Playin' for keeps

What condemns you?  

What drives you to cower and hide into the cobb-webby corners of your world?

 What deep insecurities war within the truest desires of your soul?  The pressure from the insecurities, the hiding, and lies against the warring truth and authenticity of who God made you to be is relieved in a beautiful love story of redemption.  The longings and gifts yet exposed in the deepest places in your heart are buried into the depths of your core.  That, my friend is where your diamond lives.  Now, in this moment maybe still a lump of coal, it is just waiting to be uncovered, and brought forth to dazzle in all of God's glory.   

 The time it takes for you to unleash your diamonds will depend on you.  God is a gentleman and he won't force anything on you.  He will wait and let you take the difficult long path.  He will let you become broken.  He will wait until you ask him for His help.  When will you ask?  May I recommend you taking a good hard look at yourself in the mirror and ask now, before you are in that pit so deep that the only thing you see when you look up is dirt?  That was me.  Just a few short years ago I dug my pit, then I fell so deep that all I saw was dirt all around me.  It took decades to uncover the layers of lies and deceitful tactics of the enemy, but once I was down deep and had nowhere to go but up, I began asking, REALLY asking for help.   I didn't have a strategy.  I just said, "HELP ME!"  

What I have learned is that the very characteristics that  we have been gifted and purposed for are the very things the enemy is shouting lies into our hearts.  The enemy plants the seeds so slyly, and then he fertilizes and waters with more and more deceptions and lies.  Uneducated to his schemes, we accept his counterfeits as truth.  It is easy to believe the  lies, for they are so much louder than the gentle peaceful voice of God.  Lies start very early.  the enemy of our soul looks for cracks in our foundations right away.  

I KNOW A GIRL....

I know of a  little girl weighing 2 lbs 12 oz when born many years ago with a destiny to inspire others to become better versions of themselves to the glory of God.  Given 50 % survival, she fought a mighty battle to live. The first 2 months of her life, she was an orphan, and the enemy began crafting his own story.  She was created articulate, captivating, and creative.  The enemy, time and time again threw roadblocks to silence her with shame and condemnation.     As a toddler the enemy saw a chance to shame and snuff her cries through daycare workers stuffing her mouth with tissue as she cried for her mother.   As a child, he used embarrassment and shut down her carefree and spirited soul.  As a teenager, she was told she was not allowed to write her stories, for they were the "wrong" kinds of stories, and again she was silenced, voiceless, purposeless.   In over a decade of her young adult years, she was silenced and condemned by people she trusted in the church and home to keep secrets in order to protect her abuser.  Her first love, a youth pastor shamed her into keeping the relationship a secret, for fear of the congregation rebuking him for dating yet another "youth worker"..... until he broke her heart and she grieved that too in silence.  One may think she was a quitter and resolved to shame.  NOPE, but she was knocked around quite a bit.  Years and years of silence and secrets kept the unleashing at bay.  Her spirit resiled!

Once she got wind of the unoriginal tactics that were taking her to the dirt, she was able to do battle. Then, he Barn Doors  burst open, and the unleashing power of God fell.   

 Her battle, not one rooted in bitterness, but in knowing the truth in the word of the living God.  

Past pain makes her love deeper and harder.  God's truth gives her insight, and His value of her gives her courage and hope past her circumstances.  His immeasurable love for her is her driving force to love others.  

There are others......

Victims of multiple divorces, panic attacks, children running away, illness, negative patterns galore.........

Speaking from experience, and from the stories I hear of others in battle, what I know to be true is that the enemy always works to use  shame and condemning tactics to extinguish the light and purposes God plants within us.  "Whats wrong  with me Shellz?"  That is the voice of a hurting friend in my early morning hours today.  "What makes me stay in this cycle?"  

Friend, NOTHING is wrong.... WITH YOU.  What my friend recently told me I pass along to you.... "You are the well provided for and protected daughter to the KING!"  Its just that you THINK you are messed up.  

"As a man thinks in his heart, so he is" Provers something....

THE VERY THING WE THINK WE ARE CURSED WITH, IS THE VERY THING GOD HAS MADE US AMAZING AT.  WE ARE JUST LED TO BELIEVE THE LIES.

The enemy wants us to think we are cursed.  But when we go back to Genesis, we will read that the only thing cursed  was the enemy himself along with the ground he had to crawl on. 

 LADIES, take another glance, and you will see that not only did God NOT curse woman, but God then named woman "Eve" which means life bringer.  Women, we are created to breathe life into each other!  Stop gossiping and start encouraging.  

Don't give the enemy one more day of power over your life.  If you have Jesus, you are already victorious.  You just have to claim it.  If you don't know Jesus as your Savior, please email me and I will be glad to share with you this hope.  Its easy to know Jesus.  Nothing complicated at all.  In fact, If you want to right now, all you have to say is,  "Jesus, I need you.  Come in my life."  That is it.  He hears and comes.  

If you do have Jesus, then you have the power of his perfect BLOOD  to fight the struggles.  Whatever you struggle with today; where spiritual warfare is concerned,  there is a high probability that the precise purpose of your life being challenged.  The enemy wants to snuff you so God's glory won't be shared.   

Battle is simple, but not easy.  And we are unable to do it alone.  We need God and each other!  Battle plans are laid out in Ephesians 6:10-18 

That's what I am talkin' about!

The armor of God:

 "And that about wraps it up. God is strong, and he wants you strong. So take everything the Master has set out for you, well-made weapons of the best materials. And put them to use so you will be able to stand up to everything the Devil throws your way. This is no afternoon athletic contest that we’ll walk away from and forget about in a couple of hours. This is for keeps, a life-or-death fight to the finish against the Devil and all his angels."

Be Prepared!

 "Be prepared. You’re up against far more than you can handle on your own. Take all the help you can get, every weapon God has issued, so that when it’s all over but the shouting you’ll still be on your feet. Truth, righteousness, peace, faith, and salvation are more than words. Learn how to apply them. You’ll need them throughout your life. God’s Word is an indispensable weapon. In the same way, prayer is essential in this ongoing warfare. Pray hard and long. Pray for your brothers and sisters. Keep your eyes open. Keep each other’s spirits up so that no one falls behind or drops out."

If you need prayer or help knowing Jesus, please email me at shellinorvell@me.com 

If you need prayer for your daily battles, put on the armor of God, and email me too.  I am so honored to pray for you.  

Be strong and courageous! 

You are LOVED!!!!!